How do I make an encrypted backup?
Backup & export · Help center · Current as of 2026-10-10
Short answer
Encrypted backup files are created and restored in the web app. The file is encrypted with your passphrase before it is written, so it is safe to keep in ordinary cloud storage — but it is also unreadable without that passphrase, and nobody can recover it for you.
Why bother if sync is on
Sync protects you from losing a device. A backup file protects you from losing an account, from a mistake that propagates through sync, and from us: if KeyNesta disappeared tomorrow, a backup file plus your passphrase is still your data. Both, not one.
Where to keep it
The file is ciphertext, so cloud storage, a USB stick or a second machine are all fine. Two rules: keep it somewhere you will still have access to when your phone is the thing that broke, and do not store the passphrase alongside it. A password manager is a good place for the passphrase — just not the same one your 2FA codes protect.
Restoring
Restore in the web app; phones pick the restored vault up through sync afterwards. 2FA backup and sync walks through the whole cycle including a new-phone move, and lost phone recovery covers the case where the device is already gone.
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